the president boarded air force one in hawaii early this morning and headed back to washington to deal with the so-called fiscal cliff. with just five days until the combination of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could send the economy back into recession, the president wants congress to take the lead in getting the job done. the senate convenes later today and majority leader harry reid has told members to be prepared to work on fiscal cliff issues through the weekend. reid is working on his own plan to get members to come together before the end-of-the-year deadline. that plan would likely include letting the bush tax cuts expire for households making more than $250,000 a year and short-term spending cuts instead of the massive cuts that would occur if there is no deal. after a wednesday conference call, house republican leaders issued a statement saying they're waiting for the democratic-controlled senate to act. adding to an already volatile situation, treasury secretary tim geithner in a letter to congress said wednesday the united states will hit the $16.4 trillion